Vistry Group (LSE:VTY) reported an adjusted loss before tax of £83.3m for the six months to 30 June, reversing a £80.6m profit in the same period last year.
The housebuilder's reported loss before tax widened to £661.3m, from a £40.9m profit in H1 2025, after a £475m goodwill impairment and an additional £73.2m building safety provision.
Completions fell 8% to 6,304 units, with adjusted revenue down 9% to £1,703.3m, reflecting weaker partner demand in the period.
Net debt rose to £468.8m at the end of June, up from £293.1m a year earlier, driven by weaker trading and higher investment in work in progress.
Chief Executive Adam Daniels, who took over in April, has completed a review of the business alongside external consultants, concluding that execution, regional discipline and capital allocation have been inconsistent despite a sound mixed-tenure strategy.
"These issues can be fixed, and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure the strong performance we have seen across many of our sites is replicated across the Group as a whole," Daniels said.
The Group will target around 12,000 annual completions over the medium term, a around 60:40 split between Partner Funded and Open Market tenures, and consolidation from 25 regions to 12.
The owned land bank will shrink from 51,000 to 36,000 plots, with £50m of annual overhead savings targeted alongside £25m already identified from a voluntary exit scheme.
Vistry secured a £350m direct grant award, the largest in the first wave of the Social and Affordable Housing Programme, covering delivery of more than 3,000 affordable homes.
The forward order book stands at £3.3bn, down from £3.7bn in September 2025, with the Group 91% forward sold for the full year.
Year-end cash guidance has been cut to a broadly neutral position, weaker than previous guidance, citing softer summer sales and selective withdrawal from partner deals under revised contracting criteria.
Excluding around £470m of items tied to the South East exit and land bank restructuring, Vistry expects adjusted profit before tax of around £165m for the year, with FY27 adjusted profit before tax guided at approximately £185m.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Vistry swung to an £83.3m adjusted loss in H1 2026 from an £80.6m profit a year earlier, with net debt jumping to £468.8m (up 60% year-on-year), as completions fell 8% and partner demand weakened. New CEO Adam Daniels has ordered a radical restructuring—cutting regions from 25 to 12, shrinking the owned land bank by 29% to 36,000 plots, and targeting £50m in annual overhead cuts—while cutting year-end cash guidance to "broadly neutral" from prior expectations, citing softer summer sales and selective withdrawal from partner deals.
The company is in transition under new leadership with a reset strategy, but near-term cash generation has deteriorated sharply: net debt has nearly doubled in a year, H1 profitability reversed, and cash guidance has been withdrawn. The restructuring targets medium-term stabilization (12,000 annual completions, £165m adjusted PBT for FY26 excluding one-off items), but execution risk is material given the admission that "execution, regional discipline and capital allocation have been inconsistent" across the group.
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